The All American Rejects
by Gloryscream
Summary: When a group of new mutants have their loyalties divided and secrets are revealed, will the public accept the sudden hostility of many mutants? Pre-DoR
1. Burning Up

The All-American Rejects

Chapter One

Burning Up

A.N.: All characters with the exception of Elektra, Sub-Zero, Songbird, Silver, Flare, Tidal, Breeze, Verity, and anymore obvious ones are copyrighted to Marvel. I do not claim ownership. Of course, if you wanted, you **could** give me a Nightcrawler. 

~~~~

The figures, clothed and black and creeping as quietly as they could, walked up to the edges of the house. They knew what dwelled within, and despite the lack of hostility, they didn't like it. The house looked normal enough, painted a modest white with light beige trim, but the people that lived inside were far from normal. Granted, there weren't that many, but it was only two stories. 

Silently now, they drenched as much of the bottom story of the house as they could. One of them, presumably the leader because he was giving out the orders, motioned for them to step away. Despite the thick gloves on his hands, he lit a match on his first try. He threw I, with considerable ease, onto the house. The group of about ten gathered, then turned a

Inside the mansion, Cassandra awoke with a start. She was sweating heavily- but that was no shock, in the summer, that was normal- but she was sweating too much and it was too late to be this hot. Then she smelled the thick smoke and heard the crackling of flames.

"Fire!" Cassie creamed, rolling out of her bed quickly. She moved with practiced ease, grabbing her bag of clothes, money, and a false I.D. She then shrugged her roommate, Emily, awake. Emily did the same as she did, only quicker. The two ran down a hall, pounding on already-hot doors and screaming the alert. People ran out of their rooms and screamed louder, though most ran off in the interest of self-perseverance.

Vincent and Jennifer stayed behind to help them; Vincent's complete control over fire was failing even, which he couldn't understand.

"Leave!" he yelled at them, and Jennifer looked surprise and stopped her singing- which was failing to stop the flames as well- but did as he commanded. She didn't have tome to be noble; leave that to the people who weren't about to die. Picking up a new song, she flew out of a window and landed softly behind Allan, who was working to douse the flames with water. It wasn't working. She walked over to Kelly, who stood silently off to a side, white with fury and tension.

"Who's in there, Kel?" she asked her, using the nickname she knew Kelly didn't really like,

"Vincent, Kenneth, Yume, and John," she asked, and then sighed. "Oh, Jennifer, it doesn't look like they're coming out.

And so the group of outcast mutants stood as long as they dared, watching their house burn and waiting for their companions to come out. When they finally heard the sirens, they fled.

~~~~~

"Students, please assemble yourselves downstairs," Xavier's voice rang out. Despite the incredibly late hour, they all hurried to oblige. Gathered in front of him in their pajamas and yawning, they looked very little like formidable fighters. But Xavier knew they were and could be. 

"I was watching the news," he said, and looking at the confused faces, he sighed. "Insomnia. Or, rather, a sense of foreboding." They listened patiently for his next words. "As it turns out, a house in Florida has just burned down." He said, looking around expectantly at the X-Men.

"Well, why did it burn down? Couldn't they stop the fire?" Jean Grey asked the obvious question in a rude voice that was quite unbecoming to her. Xavier sighed.

"It was no accident. The firemen were not alerted until over an hour after the fire started. As it turns out, it was a home where a group of mutants lived. Had one of them not woken up, they all would have died." He said.

"Were their any deaths?" Kitty Pryde, a.k.a. Shadowcat asked him timidly.

"Four," he replied. "But what's important is that it was intended that all of them die. This was not a random act of daring or aggression. This was planned violence against mutants, and police will purposely fail to point out that this was intended murder." Kurt, also commonly called Nightcrawler, sighed.

"They will say we are not humans, so human rights do not extend to us, correct?" he asked. There was no need for an answer.

"I was going to send Logan after them, but I think that seeing people their age happy and accepted will convince them better. Any volunteers?" he asked.

"What are their names? Do they have codenames like us?" Jean Grey asked. Xavier looked up.

"Well, the few that I've been able to receive extensive information on are Emily, codename Elektra, Kelly, codename Flare, Jennifer, codename Songbird, Vincent, codename Flame, Pierre, codename Tidal, and Spike, codename Draconis." He told them.

"Why were you able to get extensive information on them?" Rogue asked, curious.

"Criminal records." He said simply. "Flare has kleptomaniac tendencies, Elektra has been known to re-route electricity, causing mass mayhem and a distraction for her friends, Draconis, Tidal, and Songbird have been known to commit random acts of vandalism- nothing too bad, mostly just graffiti- and Flame set a building on fire once, though I have reasons to believe that was an accident." Xavier replied, seemingly calm.

"Do you feel safe about letting a kleptomaniac in our home?" Scott, or Cyclops, asked.

Xavier nodded. "I have reasons to believe their violent and rebellious behavior will cease once they are accepted rather than shunned. I know there are more with them; please try to find them all. I still need to know if any of you are willing to go. It may take a few days, to warn you." Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue's ears perked up when they realized they might miss school.

"We'll go," they said simultaneously after sharing a brief glance. Xavier simply nodded and told them to pack light.

~~~~~

"C'mon," Kelly, or Flare, as you now know, whined. "We need money. I won't get caught this time. I swear!" she continued, glancing at the wealthy woman's purse.

"No way," Amy, codename Silver, said almost instantly. "We've still got money. Besides, do you really think you won't get caught?" she asked. "We've got to lie low. Live like humans," she whispered. Flare pouted.

"Who said I was going to use my powers?" she sulked. "I want something to steal…" she whined again. Elektra slapped her, then mock-sighed.

"Oh, the life of having a kleptomaniac for a friend," she said in a playfully woeful tone. Flare clenched her fist threateningly.

"Don't make me flare you," she said, "'Cause you know I can!" she continued, her sulking forgotten. Pierre or Tidus as he liked to be called, stepped between them as the train rocked steadily.

"No fighting," he said firmly. "That's what got Vincent killed," he added as an after note to Flare, who immediately put her fist down and flopped miserably into a plush seat. She slouched and her dark hair fell in a curtain, hiding her face.

"We all miss him," Spike, or Draco as he wanted to be called because it was short for "Draconis", which as you might know means dragon in Latin, told her. "But what about the others? Yume's dead, too, and you don't see me acting like the world's over," he continued. Flare looked up and spoke softly.

"Vince _was_ my world," Flare said. "And now he's gone." She whispered and hugged herself.

"Oh, come _on_," Elektra said. "He would have wanted you to be happy. He died trying to save Yume. Destiny knew they were going to die. She told us, remember? We thought she was playing."

Cassie walked into the room. Despite the cold temperatures, she wore a tank top and denim skirt that ended right above her knees. She did, however, wear navy blue silk gloves that reached to her elbows.

"Yo, Subby!" Flare said cheerfully. Cassie glared.

"Hey, Frosty!" Tidal said. "We're roasting over here. Come sit here." He said playfully. 

"It's Sub-Zero." She pointed out. Elektra snorted. 

"That's the name of a character in Mortal Kombat," she pointed out. Sub-Zero ignored her.

Magneto watched the teenagers inside the train, though he couldn't hear them. He knew who they were anyways. The tan girl with blonde hair and shocking purple eyes was Emily, or Elektra. The one with dark hair- it looked black, but when the light hit it, the highlights were red, and he knew it was dyed anyways- and pale skin and angry crimson eyes was Kelly, or Flare. The boy with an average skin tone and light brown hair was Pierre, or Tidal. The girl with long, black hair but an icy-blue streak on the right side could only be Cassie, or Sub-Zero. The black boy with black hair was obviously Draconis, whose 'real' name was Spike. But where was Vincent? And where was Yume? He had been counting on them being there. More of the teenage mutants huddled in different compartments, spread out so as to not attract attention.

He couldn't recruit them; they had blasted morals. He flew away, vowing to try later.

~~~~~~~~

Kurt, Rogue, and Kitty waited at the train station patiently. They knew whom to look for, but they were nervous. If the teenagers resisted them, then they might have problems. Finally, they saw tow of the people they were looking for. It was hard to miss them, considering their shocking blonde hair and black hair with an icy-blue streak. Not exactly normal. Then Kurt saw Flare. Some guy was shaking her shoulders, telling her to 'snap out of it'.

She was beautiful in a sort of sorrowful way. Seeing Kitty heading towards Elektra and Sub-Zero, he said he'd go get Flare and Flame. But as he got closer, he saw that the boy was not Flame; nor was the boy behind Flare. Both were mutants, though, he could tell.

"Where's Flame?" he asked Flare before introducing himself. She looked startled.

"Who… are you?" she asked quietly.

"Someone like you," he said grimly.

"Like what?" she asked him, avoiding admitting the truth. He held out his hand.

"See for yourself." He told her blandly. She reached out and softly touched his hand. He expected her to recoil from the feel of fur instead of skin under her fingertips, but instead she stroked it lightly and nodded at her companions.

"He's for real." She said then, looking at Kurt, she spoke in a flat voice.

"Flame's dead. He died in the fire."

The reason for the look of instant increased melancholy in her eyes was not lost upon Kurt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whew, it's short, but my fingers are killing me. The All-American Rejects are good inspiration. I love my characters, especially Flare. She cheers up eventually, and you meet the rest. There's a fricking lot of them, but not all of them join the X-Men.

-Knife thrower


	2. On the Run

The All-American Rejects

Chapter Two

On the Run

Once again, I wrote this before I actually posted chapter one, probably because I have way too many stories going on. Right now, this is a priority. The All-American Rejects and Lockdown are the only stories I'm really working on. Deus Ex Machina is still on hold, as is Red and Golden Roads.

Please review.

Standard disclaimers apply.

~*~*~*~*~*

Dead. The word sounded so odd used to describe Vincent, Flare thought. The two boys with her, Draco and Tidal, seemed surprise to see her use the word. She had refused to say it before, as if denying the lack of his life would bring him back to life. Kurt didn't know what to say. It was obvious that Vincent and Flare had been more than just friends, though if they were brother and sister or boyfriend and girlfriend he couldn't tell. 

"Oh." He said finally. An awkward silence enclosed them, but Flare was surprisingly the first to break it. 

"So, what do you want?" she asked. He thought for a moment.

"Well, we-" he began, but the brunette boy cut him off.

"We?" he asked skeptically.

"My friends Rogue, Kitty and I," he replied, then opened his mouth to continue, but the black-haired boy interrupted him.

"Your accent… it's German, right?" he asked him. Kurt nodded.

"Well, there's more of us," he said, "But, anyways, we all live in this place… it's a mansion, really… called the Xavier Institute. Every resident there is… different. The Professor recruits people to live there and maybe join a force called the X-Men to help people. Are you interested?" Flare looked around at the two boys, then back at him.

"One sec," she said. "We have to ask the others." She said as an explanation. She caught up with some more girls, and a few more boys. They talked in whispers for a few minutes, then the blonde walked up to him, carrying only one bag instead of the three she previously held. 

"We can't all go right now," she said as an explanation. "The rest of us have to contact the families of Yume, Vince, and the others that died in the ars- fire." She said, quickly cutting short the word 'arson'. So the trio increased by one, and they walked off into the shadows while the rest of Elektra's friends went to contact Mr. And Mrs. Pryde, adopted mother and father of Vincent Pryde.

~~~~~~~~

"So, like, what's it like?" Kitty asked. "I mean, living with like, the same people for years? And like, how everyone hates you?" she asked Elektra. Elektra sighed.

"Well, we're all really close friends. Or, I mean, it's like we were family. Flare's been a little out of it since Vince died and everyone misses someone from the fire. Yume and Vince are the ones we miss the most, though. I mean, after the arso- fire," Elektra said, cutting arson off again, "We were all miserable. But Flare was the worst. She and I are really close friends, and it's been weeks, so she's getting over it. It's not the first time we've been burned out and someone's died."

"Didn't you all like, lose someone you cared about?" Kitty asked them. "I mean, Flare lost Vincent, but what about you, or Sub-Zero?"

"Well, yeah, but everyone swore the whole reason that Vince and Kell weren't engaged yet was because they wouldn't let him buy a ring. Anyways, everyone who died got a funeral. A mass funeral, as it happens, and the families had to bury them. But you know what? At least their families still cared."

"So, like, who else is lived there that's still alive?" she asked, trying to get off of the subject.

"Well, there's Cassie- we call her Sub-Zero, but if we want to annoy her, we call her Frosty. Then you know about Kelly- Flare. There's Jennifer- we call her Songbird. And Memory, who we call Breeze. Of course, there's Pierre- call him Tidal or Tide or he'll hurt you, it's scary- and Spike, call him Draco. See, it's short for Draconis, which is Latin for Dragon. A lot of the guys left after the arson, though," she said thoughtfully, for once not covering up the truth.

"So, like, the boys split after the fire?" Kitty said. "Except for, you know, Tide and Draco?" she continued.

"Well, there's this guy named Derek. He's kind of… scary. And then there's Sarah. You might want to be like, careful around her. She's a kleptomaniac- and not like Flare, who just steals for fun or because we need money- and she's a pathological liar and a self-proclaimed pathological anorexic. Don't ask her about it and don't piss her off. And there's more, but you'll meet them. We'll come in smaller groups to attract less attention."

"Like, did your boyfriend die?" Kitty asked. Elektra laughed.

"My ex. He got pissed at me because I wouldn't hot-wire a car for him. Whatever. But, like, do you have one?" she asked. They were sitting in the back of a cab, with Rogue and Kurt crammed in front. Kitty giggled.

"Sort of- but don't tell _anyone_ at the Institute! Because, like, there's this group of mutants called the Brotherhood, and he's in it, and they, well, don't get along well with us because they want to tell the truth and expose themselves and we don't." Elektra laughed humorlessly.

"Tell him our story next time he wants to." Kitty shrugged. Then Elektra said, "Do you like, I mean really like him, a lot?" she asked, and Kitty grinned. 

"Yeah. I mean, I have to like, sneak out, but he calls me pretty-Kitty. And he's all tough and feck-you to everyone else, but he's so sweet with me! He even left the Brotherhood to join the X-Men to be closer to me, but stupid Scott kept blaming him for stuff so he left." She said.

"We're here," Kurt said, and Elektra did a humorous impression of being electrocuted in explanation of what her powers were. Kitty laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Songbird, Flare, Sub-Zero, Breeze, and Sarah- another telepath- gathered outside a store, waiting patiently for a chance to steal some money without attracting much attention. Finally, _Are You Happy Now?_ By Michelle Branch came on, and Songbird sang the chorus softly under her breath.

"_Could you look me in the eye and tell me that you're happy now? Yea-Yea-Yeah, are you happy now? Would you look me in the eye and tell me that you're happy now? Are you happy now?" and some bills floated softly into Flare's hand. She instantly stuffed them in her pocket, and the girls slipped off to find their baggage and get a cab._

They split up momentarily at the cab, with Sarah going with Breeze and most of the luggage, and the others in the other with the remainder of the bags. Sarah sat and sulked, while Breeze sang along cheerfully with the Vanessa Carlton song playing on the radio. Sarah slapped her, and breeze glared but said nothing, instead settling into a slouch and occasionally flipping through her bag. Suddenly, she panicked. 

"Where's my photo book?" she asked hurriedly. "Oh, Sarah, if you took it to barf on, I am so going to rip your skinny little throat out and feed it to one of your anorexic ex-friends." She said in even more of a rush.

Sarah threw up her hands. "I put it in Elektra's bag with your camera because you ran out of room, remember? And Elektra mostly has clothes, so…" Breeze breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you know what hotel we're meeting at?" she asked Sarah, who grinned dangerously and grabbed her cell phone. She flipped the top open and dialed Flare's number.

"Meet us at the Embassy Suites." She said, then after hanging up, "Yo, driver man! Take us to the Embassy Suites!" the driver sighed and made a sharp right turn, causing Breeze to gasp as her shoulder slammed into the window. Sarah giggled. 

"I am stuck in a cab with a crazy lady." Breeze declared absently. Then, "Ooh! Look at _him!" she said, gesturing wildly to a slender guy with white hair walking with crazy speed. Sarah shoved her out of the way and peered out the window. _

"Either he's really old or really weird." She declared and pulled back, though Breeze made no move to stop staring.

"Um, hello? My hair was white once. And purple, and pink, and black, and red, and orange… and then platinum blonde, and then white again." It was, as a matter of fact, black with green highlights. "Besides, I think it's cute when guys dye their hair," she continued, still staring at the white haired boy. Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Assuming he's not old, he's either gay or a freak. Either way, Bre, you need better taste." She told her, biting deeply into her nails as her stomach rumbled. Breeze snorted.

"Yeah? Well at least I eat!" she said firmly. "I mean, you'd think you were phagophobic or somethin'" she said for effect. Sarah clenched her teeth.

"Let's not talk about this now." She said coldly.

"Fine!" Breeze said, throwing up her hands. Then, Sarah said, "So, do you want me to find out White-hair's name?" and the two fell apart laughing. 

Unsurprisingly, Breeze accepted Sarah's offer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Avalanche drummed his fingers impatiently, leaning against his Jeep, waiting for Pietro- Quicksilver- to return with some money- however the hell he planned to get it. Suddenly, a girl with dark red hair crashed into him. She landed on her back, and flipped herself up, then began to gather her bag and suitcases, all the while mumbling half-hearted apologies. Then a girl with black hair and a… ice blue streak?… ran up and grabed her arm.

"Forget it Flare, we've gotta met Breeze and Sarah at the Embassy Suites, though how we're gonna get the money I don't know, maybe they're counting on Songbird…" then she trailed off and noticed Lance. "It's him!" she said to the girl- Flare?- and then continued on, speaking at a speed that would make Speedy proud. "C'mon don't worry about it, we can tell Kitty later, don't you want to go to Hot Topic or Religious Sex or something? I bet they have one here and besides Kitty would want us to hurry, and so would Kurt. Flare? Hello, Flare?" she said, then Flare snapped, 

Hold on a sec, Frosty," then turned back to Lance, but the other girl- Frosty? The hell?- grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. 

"It's Sub-Zero," she growled. "Not Subby, not Frosty. Get it right. It's not that hard- it's as easy as Flame." Flare bristled and tensed noticeably, and Sub-Zero slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oh my god, Kelly, I swear it slipped out! I didn't mean anything by it… I swear, Kelly don't be mad, we've all gotta adjust after the fire…" she trailed off again and the red-head- was it Kelly or Flare?- waved her off.

"You're Lance Alvers, right?" she asked him shakily, absently rubbing a bracelet. He nodded curtly, still looking for Quicksilver. "Kitty- Kitty Pryde- told us to tell you that she'll see you when she gets back and… oh, right, she swears that she didn't tell Scott. Whatever she means by that. Oh, and one more thing," Flare surveyed him with attentive eyes. "You may love Kitty, but the Prydes hate you. And… they have an ally on their side. Their ally is what killed my boyfriend. _Be careful." She turned to leave, but he stopped her._

"So… you're a relative of Kitty's?" he asked her. She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "Her adopted brother… Vincent… he was my boyfriend. The Prydes' associate had people burn our home down. He died." She said everything in short, broken phrases. Lance sighed.

"I'm sorry." He said, then let her run off, confused as hell. 

He decided that it was time to pay a visit to miss Kitty. How, he didn't know. But he had a feeling that he was going to need some help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Over Vince already, are you?" Cassie, or Sub-Zero as you probably know her by now, asked Kelly, or Flare. "I mean, at least choose a guy that isn't taken…" she said, trailing off and raising her eyebrows suggestively. Kelly's hands curled into fists.

"Actually, I don't even find him that attractive," she admitted. Cassie laughed. 

"So now you're against long hair on boys, are you?" and Kelly smiled softly, thinking of a blue fuzzy guy's projected image.

"Long hair isn't so bad, but I'm not one for brunettes." The two girls continued to talk, but neither noticed the other figure hiding in the shadows, falling them with alarming silence. 

~~~~~~~~~~

baah, it gets interesting. I swear. Just wait till they get to the Institute. Romance, action, and dead… adopted brothers? Secrets revealed. Next chapter: Cassie, Kelly, Memory, Amy, Jennifer, and the others visit the Prydes, with an interesting reaction from Kitty's father.

-Knife thrower


End file.
